I was in a nightclub in the
same building which used to house the Laroy Theater in Portsmouth. I was sitting on a stool at a high table with
several old friends from Portsmouth, including Walls and Birdie; Birdie was sitting next to me on my left. Both
Walls and Birdie looked about 20 years old.
Even though I hadn't seen Birdie in a long time, she and I were
planning to get married. Although I really didn't want to marry
her, the wedding was already planned, and I simply didn't know
how to get out of it.

As I looked at Birdie, I
realized I hadn't seen her naked in a long time. Now I was
disturbed by what I saw. Her neck was completely encrusted with
scabs which disappeared under her shirt. When I looked up at her
face, I realized her face was also covered with the monstrous
encrustations. Only about a centimeter of her face, just above
her nose, was free of the scabs. I even pointed the scabs out to
Walls. But Birdie herself seemed completely oblivious to her
problem. When she expressed no concern, I told her she needed to
go to the doctor immediately, and that I myself would even take
her the next day. She seemed upset by what I was saying, and
finally she stood and walked off. I was unsure where she
disappeared to.

I wasn't having a good time,
and since I was unsure what had happened to Birdie, I decided to
leave. Walls and I stood up, and walked out the front door. Just
as we reached the sidewalk, I saw a group of perhaps 20
people approaching us. Everyone in the group looked as if they
were 19-20 years old, and I recognized two people: Weinstein and Anderson.

I overheard two fellows talking
to Anderson, saying they wanted to go home. The two were dressed in
nice clothes, and looked as if they were probably from out of
town. When Anderson finally saw me, he walked over to talk to me. To
Anderson I said, "So you've been hitting all the high
spots?" I thought he and his gang had been trekking around
from bar to bar. I also said hi to Weinstein, but he ignored me. I
was unsure he had heard me, but I had the feeling he didn't care
much for my anymore. I felt a little ashamed of having Weinstein see
me with Walls. Walls hadn't made much of himself and even though
Walls was young, he seemed to have aged prematurely, his hair
having already turned gray. I thought Weinstein would be disdainful
of my still hanging around with Walls.

Everyone in the group seemed to
be in a playful mood, and soon they began wrestling around with
each other until finally they all fell down, like dominoes, one
after the other. They knocked Walls over with them. I was feeling
uncomfortable with the whole dissolute scene and just wanted to
leave. I turned to Walls and told him we needed to move on.